Mention New Year's Day in the Mon Valley and thoughts immediately turn to the late Gus Brickner, the Human Polar Bear, who achieved local and national notoriety for his cold-weather swimming exploits.
While Brickner passed away some 15 years ago, his granddaughter, Briana Brickner, is making a splash of her own, but it has nothing to do with frigid temperatures or icy waters.
"No cold water for me," she laughed. "I like my pool water nice and warm."
Instead, Brickner, a junior at Charleroi Area High School, is making a name for herself on local stages as a singer and actor.
In November she took top honors in the Washington County Wake Up Your Dreams vocal competition, which benefits CASA for Kids, Inc., a local nonprofit organization that trains community members to become Court Appointed Special Advocates, according to the Wake Up Your Dreams Web site. Sponsors of the competition included Washington radio station WJPA, and Walt Maddox/Walt Maddox Productions, in addition to the law firm of Yablonski, Costello and Leckie P.C. TARGET joined as a community sponsor last year.
After Brickner wowed the Wake Up Your Dreams judges with Harry Nilsson's "Without You," Maddox, an original member of the 1960s doo-wop group, The Marcels, which recorded the hit tunes "Blue Moon" and "Heartaches," invited Brickner to his studio for a recording session.
"She blew me away in my studio," said Maddox, who exclusively manages and produces The Marcels. "She is an extremely talented young lady. She has singing experience, poise and was very impressive in the competition and in the studio. She has a powerful set of pipes. When anyone hears her recording, they will be blown over as well. She is a professional young lady and will appear in concert with me in the spring."
Few high school juniors have the opportunity to work with Maddox, and Brickner found the experience unforgettable.
"Working with Walt Maddox was exciting," she said, recalling that it took two hours to record the less-than-three-minute song. "There was background music as I sang and we had to stop and fix a few things. Once there was a computer problem and we had to do it again. It was a great experience."
This, however, was not Brickner's first experience with Wake Up Your Dreams. As a freshman she competed at the regional level and as a sophomore advanced to the finals. This year, the preliminary competition was at Charleroi Area High School, with Brickner and three other students selected to attend the Wake Up Your Dreams final audition at Chartiers-Houston High School in November.
However, patrons of musical productions at Charleroi Area High School were already aware of Brickner's talents. With today's 2 p.m. performance of "Beauty and the Beast," she is concluding her third performance in as many years at the high school.
As a freshman, Brickner had a minor lead as Mrs. McAfee in "Bye Bye Birdie." Last year as a sophomore, she played Lola in "Damn Yankee," and in "Beauty and the Beast" she is Madame De La Grande Bouche, otherwise known as the Wardrobe.
"Briana is a talented singer," said Jane Staranko, Charleroi Area choir teacher and director of the musical. "I have been working with her in middle- and high school choirs for six years. She is a true team player, a great young lady with a great attitude. She does whatever necessary to help the group. She has great acting ability and takes direction beautifully. She is always well prepared and has beautiful presence on stage. When she comes on stage, the audience is attracted to her."
Brickner has been featured in solos for the choir and will participate in the chorus regional competition March 26 at Hickory High School.
"She is an excellent singer and does well in our festivals and auditions," Staranko added. "She is always among the top students who perform."
Brickner's singing goes back to elementary school when she was a member of the Pittsburgh Children's Festival Chorus in 2002, doing backup for the Pittsburgh Symphony and Pittsburgh Opera. In 2006 she sang with the Junior Mendelssohn Choir in Pittsburgh. Additionally, Brickner serves as cantor and sings with the folk choir in her church.
While everything started with singing, her acting career began when Charleroi Area brought back musicals her freshman year.
"I decided to try something new, combining singing and acting, because the opportunity was there," Brickner said. "That was the first musical Charleroi did in several years."
As Madame De La Grande Bouche in "Beauty and the Beast," Brickner was introduced to her costume, the wardrobe, during the Feb. 28 rehearsal.
"I tried on my costume for the first time and discovered it takes some adjusting to get used to it," she said, chuckling. "It's big and it takes several people to help me get it on and off. My friends have to guide me through doors."
Even though Brickner still has her senior year to look forward to, she has made up her mind to become a music teacher. At Charleroi Area, Brickner serves as section leader for the Cougarettes color guard with the marching band. While her time for competitive swimming may be limited, she assists the swim team as manager.
